Kabayaki

In the Kantō region (eastern Japan), the eel is slit down its back[6] and butterflied, so a lighter-colored stripe of the belly runs down the middle of each fillet on the skin side.

[8] In the Kansai region (western Japan), the eel is slit down the belly[6] and directly grilled without being steamed, often still in their original length, and called nagayaki (長焼き).

[7] The outer skin could be tough and chewy, so eel cooked in Kansai style may be placed between layers of hot rice, for the steam to help tenderize it.

Some speculate the name is a corruption of mabushi meaning "besprinkle",[7] while others say it is a reference to the eel being rather similar to the viper in shape and vigor-endowing abilities when consumed.

Food historian Tekishū Motoyama (ja:本山荻舟)(1881–1958) has argued that originally the whole eel was skewered vertically and cooked that way, giving rise to the name on the resemblance to the cattail both in form and color.